Remote order acceptance design system and elevator remote order acceptance method

ABSTRACT

A specification plan of an order-made product suitable for a building structure plan is generated promptly. 
     A WWW server  11  and a database server  12  are provided to the equipment designer&#39;s side. The database server  12  has a drawing database  9  that registers a CAD symbol for each product. A CAD symbol for each product includes: effective space information, which expresses a space to be secured for installation of the product; product name information expressing a name of the product; structure information expressing structural features (size, shape, etc.); product specification information; option data; etc. On the other hand, WWW server  11  has a symbol generation data interface  3 , through which requirements specification data for an order-made product can be received from a WWW client terminal  2 , and a CAD symbol of the order-made product can be taken out from the side of the WWW client terminal.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a design system for an order-madeproduct and a method of supporting acceptance of an order for anelevator.

BACKGROUND ART

In building processes, usually, a computer-aided design system(hereinafter, called a CAD system) is introduced into each processconstituting the building processes. For example, Japanese UnexaminedPatent Laid-Open No. 6-89314 describes a system that can be applied toan equipment design process among building processes. This system canquickly design an equipment that satisfies a requirements specificationof a building designer.

On the other hand, information is transferred between processes solelyby the medium of paper. For example, between a building frame designprocess and an equipment design process, specifications are usuallytransmitted and matched (for study of interference between a buildingand an equipment, and study of equipment fixing structure) on paper.

For transferring CAD data between CAD systems, the “DXF format” thatdefines an intermediate file format is used as a de facto standard fordata exchange. For example, “A sequel to Wise use of a building CAD”,published by Nikkei BP, Ltd. August, 1997, pp. 63–69 describes a systemin which a constructor or the like obtains CAD symbol data (in the DXFformat) of various equipments from the equipment makers' side (equipmentdesigners' side), through Internet, personal computer communication, orthe like. According to this system, a building designer can grasp ashape and size of a required equipment quickly and easily, and can makea study of interference whereby it is decided if the equipment can behoused in a building frame under design based on the grasped contents.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

In the above-mentioned conventional DXF format, however, data isexpressed at the level of graphic elements such as a line segment, anarc, a circle, etc., without giving data expressions corresponding tostructural members, for example, a wall, a pillar, a beam, etc.,constituting a building. In other words, data only required for makingdesign drawings are transferred, and data required for understandingmeanings in the design drawings are not transferred. Thus, for eacharticle of equipment, an equipment designer must understand buildingstructure depicted in a design drawing, and further, must extractfeatures required for determining fixing structures of the article (forexample, existence or nonexistence of building elements such as a pillarand a beam, positional relations between the article to be fixed andsurrounding building elements, sizes and materials of structuralmembers, and the like) from the design drawings. Accordingly, theequipment designer consumes much time for his work, i.e., for preparinga specification plan of the equipment suitable for a building structureplan of the building designer.

On the other hand, as an industry standard, building product modelformats such as IFC (Industrial Foundation Classes), STEP, etc., aregoing to be established, and interaction between related systemsincluding a CAD system is being realized. A related technique isdescribed in Padmaga, “Efficient use and standardization of building CADdata, I”, pp. 117–124, published in June 1998 by Kenchiku Chishiki-sya.In this technique, a set of objects (a pillar, a wall, a door, etc.)required for model representation is defined as a class library, andaccess or calculation is performed on objects generated from this class.Such a CAD data exchange technique, which uses standard product models,can exchange definition data of building elements, such as a beam, apillar, etc., which the above-mentioned DXF format can not exchange.

However, even if such a CAD data exchange technique using standardproduct models is employed, it nevertheless takes time to prepare anequipment specification plan suitable for a building structure plan of abuilding designer. The reason is that, in determining fixing structurefor an equipment, it is necessary to extract objects related to theequipment out of large-scale building data of complex structure, inorder to grasp features (existence or nonexistence of a pillar or abeam, a positional relation between the equipment and the surroundingstructural members, etc.) for determining the fixing structure of theequipment, and then, in order to check interference between theequipment and the building structure. Furthermore, a building structureplan is repeatedly changed in the course of design, and it is necessaryto check again the interference between the equipment and the changedbuilding structure each time. Such operation requires quickness.

Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a remote orderacceptance design system that can quickly prepare an installationstructure plan for suitably installing an order-made article into abuilding under design. Further, another object of the present inventionis to provide a remote order acceptance method that supports processingof order acceptance until an order of a product is successfullyaccepted.

To attain the above objects, the present invention provides a remoteorder acceptance design system, comprising:

a database that stores CAD symbols each including effective spaceinformation expressing an occupied space occupied by a product;

a first input receiving means for receiving input of a requirementsspecification of an order-made product that includes one or moreequipments;

a data taking means for determining the occupied space of saidorder-made product based on the requirements specification whose inputis received by said first input receiving means, and for taking out aCAD symbol that includes effective space information conforming to saidoccupied space, from said database; and

a data output means for outputting the CAD symbol taken out by said datataking means to an input source who has inputted the requirementsspecification of said order-made product.

According to the remote order acceptance design system of the presentinvention, the input source of the requirements specification of theorder-made product can obtain a CAD symbol that includes effective spaceinformation expressing a space occupied by the order-made product. Whenbuilding data including this CAD symbol is generated by the input sourceof the requirements specification of the order-made product, it ispossible to detect promptly existence of interference within theoccupied space of the order-made product, by calculation processing.

Thus, for example, the remote order acceptance design system accordingto the present invention may further comprises:

a product specification database that stores one or more pieces oflocation rule information expressing location rules of the equipmentsincluded in the product;

a second input receiving means for receiving input of building data thatinclude a CAD symbol of said order-made product;

a structural features extracting means for extracting structuralfeatures within the occupied space expressed by the effective spaceinformation of the CAD symbol of said order-made product from thebuilding data received by said second input receiving means, and forjudging existence of interference in an installation area of saidorder-made product, based on said structural features; and

an installation drawing generation means for taking out the locationrule information corresponding to said CAD symbol from said productspecification database, when it is judged that interference does notoccur in the installation area of said order-made product, and forgenerating installation drawing data for said order-made product basedon said location rule information and said building data;

and

said data output means may output the installation drawing datagenerated by said installation drawing generation means to an inputsource who has inputted said building data, when said second inputreceiving means receives the building data.

In that case, occurrence of interference within the occupied space ofthe order-made product is promptly checked based on the building datagenerated in the input source who has inputted the requirementsspecification of the order-made product. Accordingly, installationdrawing data, by which the order-made product can be appropriatelyinstalled in the building, can be provided to the input source of therequirements specification of the order-made product, more promptly thanthe conventional case where interference check is performed by buildingdesigner's own judgment. Further, labor of the equipment designer isreduced.

Further, such a remote order acceptance design system may furthercomprises:

a building data save means for saving the building data received by saidsecond input receiving means, associating said building data with theinput source of the building data; and

a correction management means for calculating difference betweenbuilding data after a change and building data before the change, whensaid second input receiving means receives the building data after thechange, and for judging existence of interference in the order-madeproduct's installation area defined by said building data after thechange, based on said difference;

and

said installation drawing generation means may correct installationdrawing data of said order-made product based on said location ruleinformation and said building data after the change, when it is judgedthat interference does not occur in said order-made product'sinstallation area defined in the building data after the change.

In that case, even if building data is changed repeatedly in the courseof design, occurrence of new interference caused by a change in thebuilding data is automatically and promptly checked. Accordingly, laborof the equipment designer is reduced, and at the same time, the inputsource of the requirements specification of the order-made product canobtain corrected installation drawing data, in shorter time.

Further, to attain the above objects, the present invention provides anelevator remote order acceptance method, in which a computer distributesan elevator installation drawing to a user terminal through a network,wherein:

said method comprises a procedure of making said computer complete saidelevator installation drawing step by step, based on data givensequentially from said user terminal; and

said procedure comprises one of steps mentioned below, or comprises twoor more of said steps in a order mentioned below: namely,

a step in which, when said computer receives input of buildinginformation relating to a building to be installed with said elevators,through a network, then, information on at least machine types of theelevators, which correspond to said building information, is returned toan input source who has inputted said building information;

a step in which, when said computer receives input of a requirementsspecification for said elevators, through the network, then, a CADsymbol conforming to said requirements specification is returned to aninput source who has inputted said requirements specification; and

a step in which, when said computer receives input of building data,which include said CAD symbol, through the network, then, the elevatorinstallation drawing based on said building data is returned to an inputsource who has inputted said building data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a system according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows, in an upper part, a view for explaining outline structureof an elevator as an example of an order-made product, and, in a lowerpart, its cross section;

FIG. 3 is a partial view for explaining structure of a fixing part ofthe elevator;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a flow of remote order acceptancedesign processing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a display example of a GUI employed in a userterminal for a building designer;

FIG. 6 is a view showing a display example of a GUI employed in a userterminal for a building designer;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a flow of data in remote order acceptancedesign processing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of data in remote order acceptancedesign processing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a flow of data in remote order acceptancedesign processing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of data in remote order acceptancedesign processing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a flow of data in remote order acceptancedesign processing according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing elevator shaft relevance building dataautomatic read processing, which is performed by a building dataautomatic read unit;

FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing processing of generating an elevatorinstallation drawing, which is performed by a user terminal on the sideof an equipment designer;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing of equipmentselection/location calculation, which is performed by an equipmentselection/location calculation processing unit;

FIG. 15 is a view showing an example of an elevator installation drawinggenerated by elevator installation drawing generation processingperformed by a user terminal on the side of the equipment designer;

FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram showing a system according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a flow of remote processing according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a view showing an example of a WWW page opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S201 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 is a view showing examples of WWW pages opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 21 is a conception diagram of an elevator machine type/numberplanning map related to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S202 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 23 is a view showing an example of a WWW page opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 24 is a view showing an example of a WWW page opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S203 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 26 is a view showing examples of WWW pages opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S203 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 28 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S203 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 29 is a view showing examples of WWW pages opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 30 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S204 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 31 is a view showing an example of a WWW page opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 32 is a view showing examples of WWW pages opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 33 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S205 of FIG. 17;

FIG. 34 is a view showing examples of WWW pages opened on a displayscreen of a user terminal for a building designer;

FIG. 35 is a conceptual view showing data stored in an electronic filemade by a building designer;

FIG. 36 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S205 of FIG. 17;and

FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in S205 of FIG. 17.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Now, referring to the attached drawings, an embodiment according to thepresent invention will be described.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a configuration of a remote order acceptancedesign system of the present embodiment will be described.

On the side of a building designer, a user terminal 2 as a WWW clientconnected to a wide area network is installed. This user terminal 2(hereinafter, referred to as a building designer user terminal 2) hasbeen already installed with a browser required for utilizing WWW, andwith a CAD program that supports standard product models.

On the other hand, on the side of an equipment designer, a WWW server 11connected to the wide area network, a database server 12, and a userterminal 1 (hereinafter, referred to as an equipment designer userterminal 1) are installed. These are connected to one another throughLAN.

The WWW server 11 comprises: (1) a symbol generation data interface 3,through which requirements specification data for an order-made productcan be received from the building designer user terminal 2, and a CADsymbol of the order-made product can be taken out from the side of theWWW client terminals; (2) an installation drawing generation requestinterface 8, through which a request for studying installation structurefor the order-made product can be received from the building designeruser terminal 2, and installation structure data for the order-madeproduct can be received from the side of the WWW client terminals; and(3) a CAD symbol automatic generation processing unit 7 that generates aCAD symbol automatically. Each of these components is a functionalcomponent implemented by software such as a CGI program or the like.

The database server 12 is provided with an external storage 9 thatstores a drawing database. This drawing database registers a CAD symbolof each product. Each CAD symbol includes: product name informationexpressing a product name; structure information expressing structuralfeatures (size, shape, etc.) of the product; specification information,which includes cage capacity data (passenger capacity and loadingcapacity) and door opening mode data (center opening, or the like);effective space information expressing a space (hereinafter, referred toas an occupied space) that should be secured for installing the product;option data; and the like.

The equipment designer user terminal 1 comprises functional componentsimplemented by programs read from a hard disk onto a memory. In detail,the equipment designer user terminal 1 comprises: a building dataautomatic read unit 4, which extracts structural features required fordetermining the installation structure of the product ordered; anequipment selection/location calculation processing unit 5, whichperforms an interference check based on the structural featuresextracted by the building data automatic read unit 4, and thereafterperforms selection of component equipments and other operations; aninstallation drawing automatic generation processing unit 6, whichgenerates installation drawing data based on the processing results bythe equipment selection/location calculation processing unit 5; aspecification correction management unit 10, which checks interferencebased on difference between building data before and after a change whenthe building data are changed; and the like.

Further, the hard disk of the equipment designer user terminal 1 isinstalled with a CAD program that supports the standard product models,and, in addition, stores a product specification database and structuralfeatures database.

The product specification database registers location rule informationthat expresses installation structure of each product. For example, inthe case of an elevator, the location rule information includes: names(cage, winch, etc.) of elevator's component equipments; names(intermediate beam, rail, etc.) of fixing parts for fixing theelevator's component equipments; a series of procedures for strengthcalculation of fixing structure of the elevator; a table that associatesmodels of elevator's component equipments with respective specifications(width and depth in the case of a cage) of the component equipments;conditional expressions expressing positional relations between theelevator's component units; and the like (see FIG. 14).

Further, the structural features database registers building elementsrelated to installation of an elevator into an elevator shaft, in thebelow-mentioned elevator shaft relevance building data automatic readprocessing.

Previous to describing remote order acceptance design processingperformed in this system, structure of a rope drive elevator as anexample of an order-made product will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a rope drive elevator, a wire rope, whichconnects a cage with a counter weight, both placed in a verticalelevator shaft, is wound on a winding drum of a winch, and the cage ismoved up and down within the elevator shaft by the driving force of thewinch. A control panel for controlling the winch etc. is housed inside amachine room provided on a rooftop of a building. Further, on a bottomend of the elevator shaft, there is a safety device such as a shockabsorber.

As shown in FIG. 3, to install such an elevator to a building, anintermediate beam is placed over beams of the building, and rails forguiding the cage and the counter weight are fixed to the intermediatebeam by means of a rail bracket. Or, a rail for guiding the cage may bedirectly fixed to a wall of the building, depending on buildingstructure of the building. Even when a plurality of such elevators areprovided in the building, a basic method of installation is not changed,except that a plurality of cages are provided inside an elevator shaft.

Sizes (width and depth) of the elevator shaft should be determined toensure an occupied space required for installing the mentioned componentequipments (cage, rail for guiding the cage, etc.). In examination ofinterference performed on the side of the equipment designer, it isjudged if such sizes of the elevator shaft can be secured, i.e., if thesizes of the elevator shaft are determined such that a pillar or thelike does not cut into the occupied space required for installation ofthe cage etc. that have the sizes satisfying the specifications(passenger capacity, loading capacity, etc.) required by the buildingdesigner.

Now, thus-described elevator is taken as an example of an order-madeproduct, and, referring to FIG. 4 and other figures (FIGS. 5–11), CADsymbol acquisition processing performed between the building designeruser terminal 2 and the WWW server 11 will be mainly described, out of aseries of remote processing performed in the system shown in FIG. 1.Here, it is assumed that the building designer starts up the CAD programon the building designer user terminal 2, and designs a building withelevators, on a CAD window activated by the starting up.

The building designer designing a building with elevators must studyfitting of the elevators, in the course of design. For that purpose, thedesigner should know sizes of an elevator shaft required forinstallation of the elevators, and know if the elevators can be housedin the elevator shaft in a design drawing.

In such a case, when the building designer starts up a browser on thebuilding designer user terminal 2, then, connection between the buildingdesigner user terminal 2 and the WWW server 11 is established, and anelevator design WWW page as shown in FIG. 5 is opened (S401). Thiselevator design WWW page includes, for each elevator: an elevatorpurpose input box 50 for receiving input of a purpose of the elevator; aspecification number input box 51 for receiving input of designation ofa basic specification of the elevator; and a door opening directioninput box 52 for receiving input of a door opening mode of the elevator.Thus, the building designer should input suitable data into the inputboxes 51, 52 and 53 for each of the elevators to be installed. On thiselevator design WWW page, when a purpose of an elevator is inputted intoan elevator purpose input box, then, a list 54 of basic specificationsof elevators used for the designated purpose is displayed. In detail, aninformation list is displayed, showing correspondence relationshipbetween a cage capacity (passenger capacity and loading capacity) and anascension/descending speed. Thus, the building designer can select asuitable basic specification out of the list, and input a number of theselected specification into the specification number input box. Here,options such as existence of a trunk, a counter weight position, etc.may be selected additionally on this elevator design WWW page.

When the designer clicks a symbol display button 53 at the end ofsetting basic specification data etc. for each of the number ofelevators required, then, a CAD symbol retrieval request, which includesthe basic specification data and the door opening direction data, issent to the WWW server 11 (S402).

Receiving this CAD symbol retrieval request, the WWW server 11 extractsthe basic specification data and the door opening direction data fromthe received data. The extracted data are stored as requirementsspecification data into a buffer memory. At the same time, the WWWserver 11 makes a request to the database server 12 for databaseretrieval using the basic specification data of the requirementsspecification data, as a retrieval key.

At that time, processing of the request received by the database server12 is performed by execution of the CGI program (see FIG. 7) read ontothe memory.

The database server 12 searches the drawing database, to retrieve a CADsymbol that includes the basic specification data designated as theretrieval key, from the drawing database, and returns the retrieved CADsymbol to the WWW server 11. At that time, when the database retrievalis unsuccessful, then, the database server 12 answers the WWW server 11to that effect.

Receiving the return data from the database server 12, the WWW server 11performs the following processing depending on the return data.

When a CAD symbol is included in the return data, then, the WWW server11 sends the CAD symbol as an answer to the input of the basicspecification data etc., to the building designer user terminal 2 (seeFIG. 7). By this, as shown in FIG. 6, this CAD symbol (i.e., thestructure and effective space of an elevator conforming to thespecification required by the building designer) is displayed as aparametric representation on the elevator design WWW page of thebuilding designer user terminal 2. FIG. 6 shows a CAD symbol of oneelevator, as an example of display. However, when the building designerhas set basic specifications etc. for a plurality of elevators, then, aCAD symbol of the plurality of elevators (i.e., structure and effectivespace of an aggregation of the plurality of elevators) is displayed as aparametric representation.

On the other hand, when a message that the database retrieval isunsuccessful is included in the return data, then, the WWW server 11makes a message displayed on the elevator design WWW page of thebuilding designer user terminal 2 to the effect that an e-mail will besent at the end of generation of a CAD symbol conforming to therequirements specification to report a storage location of the CADsymbol. In addition, the WWW server 11 requests input of a mail addressas a destination for the e-mail message. When an answer to this requestis received, then, the WWW server 11 once disconnects it from thebuilding designer user terminal 2 (see FIG. 8).

Then, the CAD symbol automatic generation processing unit 7 converts thebasic specification data designated by the building designer intogeometry (a shape and size of the cage, a shape and size of the counterweight, etc.) of each component part of the elevator according to apredetermined rules, and further, sets an occupied space around theassembly of those component parts according to their sizes. Further,using the determined occupied space and geometry of each component unit,and the product name information, the requirements specification data,etc., the CAD symbol automatic generation processing unit 7 generates aCAD symbol that includes the predetermined information (the product nameinformation, structure information, specification information, effectivespace information, option data, and the like) (S403).

Thereafter, the WWW server 11 requests the database server 12 toregister the newly-generated CAD symbol, and requests a mail server onthe network to send an e-mail addressed to the building designer toinform him of the completion of the CAD symbol and its storage location(see FIGS. 9 and 10). Here, each processing of requesting the databaseserver 12 or the mail server is performed by executing a CGI programread onto the memory.

When the building designer knows the completion and storage location ofthe CAD symbol by means of an arrival of the e-mail from the WWW server11 and downloads the CAD symbol from the storage location (see FIG. 11),then, the CAD symbol (i.e., the structure and effective space of theelevator conforming to the specification required by the buildingdesigner) is displayed as a parametric representation on the elevatordesign WWW page of the building designer user terminal 2.

Only by drag and drop of the CAD symbol from the elevator design WWWpage and by placing the CAD symbol in the design drawing in progress ona CAD window, the building designer can ascertain at a glance if theelevator satisfying the requirements specification interferes with thesurrounding building elements (S404). For example, when the occupiedspace shown by the effective space information of the CAD symboloverlaps a surrounding building element (a pillar, a wall, or the like),then, the building designer judges that the elevator satisfying therequirements specification by himself can not be housed in the elevatorpath in the building design drawing. Thus, the building designer canrecognize that at least one of the requirements specification of theelevator and the size of the elevator shaft in the building designdrawing in progress should be changed. For example, when it is judgedthat the requirements specification of the elevator should be changed,then, the building designer makes a suitable change in the requirementsspecification to repeat the processing similar to the above until asuitable CAD symbol is obtained.

When it is judged that the elevator satisfying the requirementsspecification does not interfere with the surrounding building elements,or that interference between the elevator satisfying the requirementsspecification and the surrounding building elements is avoided bymodifying the building drawing, then, the equipment designer (theelevator designer) performs elevator installation drawing generationprocessing on the building designer user terminal 1 of himself. In thefollowing, this elevator installation drawing generation processing willbe described referring to FIG. 4 and other reference drawings (FIGS.12–15).

The building designer sends building drawing data that includes the CADsymbol from the building designer user terminal 2 to the equipmentdesigner user terminal 1 (S405). When the equipment designer confirmsreception of this sent data, and thereafter inputs an execution commandfor starting the installation drawing generation processing through aninput unit (keyboard, mouse, or the like), then, the followingprocessing is executed sequentially on the equipment designer userterminal 1.

(1) Elevator Shaft Relevance Building Data Automatic Read Processing(S406)

First, the building data automatic read unit 4 derives the buildingdrawing data from the data sent from the building designer user terminal2, and extracts building elements relating to elevator's installation inthe elevator shaft (in detail, pillars, walls and beams that may projectinto the elevator shaft) as characteristic structure, for each floor ofthe building.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 12, the building data automatic read unit 4extracts all objects of three kinds of building elements, pillar, beamand wall from the building drawing data (S901). Then, taking this groupof objects as the population, the building data automatic read unit 4extracts objects that exist in the neighborhood of the CAD symbol out ofthe population, for each floor of the building. In detail, this isperformed as follows.

The building data automatic read unit 4 initializes an target floorparameter (S902), and then, derives various kinds of informationincluded in the CAD symbol (S903).

Then, the building data automatic read unit 4 calculates the locationand direction of the CAD symbol in the building drawing (S904). Further,a new rectangular coordinate system is defined such that the location ofthe CAD symbol becomes the origin and the frontward direction of the CADsymbol is −Y direction. And, the coordinate system on the buildingdrawing is transformed into this new rectangular coordinate system. Bythis operation, coordinates of the above-mentioned objects aretransformed into coordinates in the new coordinate system.

Then, the building data automatic read unit 4 extracts wall objects onthe four sides of the CAD symbol out of the wall objects that areincluded in the above-mentioned group of objects and belong to thetarget floor (S905). At the same time, the building data automatic readunit 4 checks parallelism of the CAD symbol with the wall objects on itsfour sides. When the CAD symbol is inclined in relation to the wallobjects on the four sides, then, all the objects of the target floor inthe building drawings are rotationally transferred by a rotation anglecorresponding to the inclination. This corrects an error in the buildingdrawing owing to the drag and drop placement of the CAD symbol onto thebuilding drawing.

Further, the building data automatic read unit 4 extracts beam objectson the four sides of the CAD symbol out of the beam objects that areincluded in the above-mentioned group of objects and belong to thetarget floor (S906). Similarly, concrete pillar objects adjacent to theCAD symbol out of the pillar object that are included in theabove-mentioned group of objects and belong to the target floor areextracted (S907), and further, steel pillar objects adjacent to the CADsymbol are extracted (S908). Then, after calculation of the floor heightof the target floor (S909), the record of the above-describedcalculation processing performed with respect to the target floor isoutputted as a log file, and association information, which associatesthe result of the above-described calculation processing performed withrespect to the target floor with building drawing identificationinformation (for example, a user name of the building designer, etc.),is stored into the structural features database (S910). The log file canbe referred to at any time for the sake of working convenience of thebuilding designer.

Thereafter, the building data automatic read unit 4 judges if the targetfloor is the top floor of the building (S911). If not, the target floorparameter is incremented by one (S912), and the processing is repeatedfrom S905.

(2) Equipment Selection/Location Calculation Processing (S407)

When the processing S905–S910 is performed for each floor up to the topfloor in the elevator shaft relevance building data automatic readprocessing (S406), then, the equipment selection/location calculationprocessing unit 5 gets elevator location rule information out of theproduct specification database, to perform equipment selection/locationcalculation processing using the obtained information.

In detail, as shown in FIG. 14, the equipment selection/locationcalculation processing unit 5 gets the elevator location ruleinformation out of the product specification database, and determinesmodels of elevator's component units according to a correspondencerelation defined in the table included in the location rule information.For example, in the case of a cage of the elevator, a model associatedwith the cage size included in the CAD symbol is determined as anaccepted model (S101). In the case where the CAD symbol represents aplurality of elevators, models etc. of elevator's component units aredetermined for each elevator, according to the location ruleinformation.

Then, the equipment selection/location calculation processing unit 5locates the elevator's component units according to the location ruleinformation. In detail, strength calculation is performed according tothe procedures included in the location rule information. And, acomponent unit that has not been located is located such that thecomponent unit in question and the already-located component units havepositional relations satisfying the conditional expressions included inthe location rule information. In the case where the CAD symbolrepresents a plurality of elevators, locations of the component unitsare determined for each elevator, according to the location ruleinformation.

Further, the equipment selection/location calculation processing unit 5judges if each object extracted as characteristic structure by thebuilding data automatic read unit 4 cuts into the space occupied by theelevator which is defined on the building drawing (S102).

When no object cuts into the space occupied by the elevator, then, theequipment selection/location calculation processing unit 5 judges thatthe elevator does not interfere with the surrounding building elements,and locates the component units (cage, winch, etc.) whose names areincluded in the location rule information, at their predeterminedlocations, and further, locates the fixing parts (intermediate beam,fastener, etc.) whose names are included in the location ruleinformation at their predetermined locations.

On the other hand, when there is an object that cuts into the spaceoccupied by the elevator, then, the equipment selection/locationcalculation processing unit 5 requests the mail server on the network tosend an e-mail addressed to the building designer to inform him to theeffect that the elevator interferes with the surrounding buildingelements. From the arrival of this e-mail, the building designer canrecognize that the elevator interferes with the surrounding buildingelements, and thus, he can promptly start considering a change of thebuilding drawing data in the course of designing.

The building designer, who has received an e-mail informing him of theinterference between the elevator and the surrounding building elements,must correct the building drawing to obtain installation drawing data.When the building designer sends the corrected building drawing datafrom his user terminal 2 to the equipment designer user terminal 1,then, the building data automatic read unit 4 extracts characteristicstructure from the building drawing data, similarly to theabove-described case. However, in the present case, after the extractionof the characteristic structure, the specification correction managementunit 10 calculates difference between the characteristic structureextracted this time and the characteristic structure extracted last time(i.e., characteristic structure data stored in the structural featuresdatabase, and checks interference, only with respect to objectscorresponding to the difference. When there is no interference, theequipment selection/location calculation unit 5 performs processingsimilar to the above-described equipment selection/location calculationprocessing (S407), and then, the installation drawing automaticgeneration processing unit 6 performs processing similar to theabove-described installation drawing generation processing (S408), tocomplete the installation drawing data.

Thus, even if the building drawing data is changed in the course ofdesign, generation of new interference owing to a change of the buildingdrawing data is promptly and automatically checked. And thus, labor ofthe equipment designer is reduced and equipment designer's time requiredfor obtaining installation drawing data is shortened.

The building designer, who has received an e-mail informing him of theinterference between the elevator and the surrounding building elements,must correct the building drawing to obtain installation drawing data.When the building designer sends the corrected building drawing datafrom his user terminal 2 to the equipment designer user terminal 1,then, the building data automatic read unit 4 extracts characteristicstructure from the building drawing data, similarly to theabove-described case. However, in the present case, after the extractionof the characteristic structure, the specification correction managementunit 10 calculates difference between the characteristic structureextracted this time and the characteristic structure extracted last time(i.e., characteristic structure data stored in the structural featuresdatabase, and checks interference, only with respect to objectscorresponding to the difference. When there is no interference, theequipment selection/location calculation unit 5 performs processingsimilar to the above-described equipment selection/location calculationprocessing (S407), and then, the installation drawing automaticgeneration processing unit 6 performs processing similar to theabove-described installation drawing generation processing (S408), tocomplete the installation drawing data.

Thus, even if the building drawing data is changed in the course ofdesigning, generation of new interference owing to a change of thebuilding drawing data is promptly and automatically checked. And thus,labor of the equipment designer is reduced and equipment designer's timerequired for obtaining installation drawing data is shortened.

(3) Installation Drawing Generation Processing (S408)

When the locations of the fixing parts are determined in the equipmentselection/location calculation processing (S407), then, the installationdrawing automatic generation processing unit 6 performs installationdrawing generation processing based on the data obtained in theequipment selection/location calculation processing (S407). In detail,the elevator's component units and fixing parts are placed in thebuilding drawing at their locations determined by the result of theequipment selection/location calculation processing. For example, whenit is scheduled to install three elevators in the building, execution ofthis installation drawing generation processing generates aninstallation drawing as shown in FIG. 15. Then, the building drawingdata are sent as installation drawing data to the sender of the originalbuilding drawing (S409).

According to the above-described installation drawing generationprocessing, existence of interference in the occupied space of theelevator is promptly and accurately checked by the calculationprocessing. Thus, it is possible to provide installation drawing data,which can ensure suitable installation of an elevator in a building,more promptly to a building designer than the case where the buildingdesigner checks interference on his own judgement. And, it is possibleto satisfy building designer's desire of early grasping of installationstructure. Further, labors of an equipment designer is reduced also.FIG. 13 shows concisely the flow of the installation drawing generationprocessing.

When the above-described network system is extended, it is possible toprovide more diversified services to an equipment designer. In thefollowing, this extended system will be described, stressing differentpoints from the above-described system.

As shown in FIG. 16, on the side of the equipment designer in this case,are installed a management terminal 112, a plurality of user terminals1, 100, in addition to the above-mentioned WWW server 11 and databaseserver 12. Similarly to the above-described case, these are connected toone another through LAN.

Among the plurality of user terminals 1, 100, there exist at least oneof the above-described equipment designer user terminal 1 and at leastone user terminal 100 (hereinafter, referred to as an artistic designerterminal 100) having a new function.

This artistic designer user terminal 100 comprises: (1) a requirementsspecification read unit 122, which requests the database server 12 toretrieve a design information file etc.; (2) a structure studyprocessing unit 123, which determines elevator interior decorationstructure based on the design information file, etc.; (3) an artisticdesign drawing generation processing unit 124, which generates elevatorartistic design drawing data etc. based on a result of determination bythe structure study processing unit 123; (4) a specification correctionmanagement unit 125, which calculates difference between artistic designrequirements specifications before and after a change when it isrequested to change the elevator artistic design drawing data; and thelike; as functional components implemented by CPU and software read froma built-in hard disk onto a memory.

Further, the built-in hard disk of the artistic designer user terminal100 is installed with a CAD program for standard product models. Inaddition, the artistic designer user terminal 100 stores a materialdatabase. This material database registers product specificationinformation that indicates product specifications (shape, size, quality,function, etc.) of each interior material of order-made product. Forexample, in the case of a decorative steel plate used as a side platematerial for an elevator cage, length, width, and the like of adecorative steel plate marketed as a product are registered as productspecification information.

Then, the management terminal 112 comprises: (i) a time limit answerprocessing unit 113, which estimates the dead line on the equipmentdesigner's side; (ii) a post assignment processing unit 114, whichassigns a drawing generation request from a building designer toindividual persons in charge of the design; and the like; as functionalcomponents implemented by CPU and software read from a built-in harddisk onto a memory. Further, an external storage 117 of the managementterminal 112 stores two databases 115 and 116 for storing data requiredfor executing processing by each processing unit 113, 114. One database115 (a load management database) registers, for each person in charge ofthe design, identification information (name, ID number, mail address,etc.) of that person, and a case ID and dead line of a case under hischarge. And, the other database 116 (a service management database)registers, for each service provided from the equipment designer's side,identification information of a person in charge, who provides theservice in question.

In this case, the external storage 9 of the database server 12 furtherstores a building drawing management database, an installation drawingmanagement database, an artistic design drawing management database, anda customer's specification management database, in addition to theabove-mentioned drawing database.

The building drawing management database registers, for each case, acase ID, and building drawing data. Further, the installation drawingmanagement database registers, for each case, a case ID, andinstallation drawing data. Further, the artistic design drawingmanagement database stores, for each elevator, elevator artistic designdrawing data, elevator perspective drawing data, and various kinds ofdata (elevator door opening direction, elevator's passenger capacity, aceiling design pattern, material data, etc.) used for generating theelevator artistic drawing data and the elevator perspective drawingdata. Further, the customer's specification management databaseregisters studied information relating to an entrusted case, a case IDassigned to the entrusted case, and additional information (databaseregistration data, mail address of a building designer, etc.) relatingto the entrusted case.

Further, in this case, the WWW server 11 further comprises threeinput-output interfaces (4), (5) and (6) implemented by software such asa CGI program, in addition to the above-mentioned interfaces 3 and 8 andthe CAD symbol automatic generation processing unit 7. Namely, the WWWserver 11 further comprises: (4) a machine type/number planninginterface 103, through which building information (purpose of abuilding, the number of floors, resident population of each floor, etc.)relating to the building, to which the elevator is to be installed, canbe received from the building designer user terminal 2, and an elevatormachine type/number plan can be gotten from the side of the buildingdesigner user terminal; (5) a design image generation interface 107,through which an elevator interior decoration study request can bereceived from the building designer user terminal 2, and elevatorinterior decoration image data can be gotten from the side of the WWWclient terminals; and (6) an artistic design drawing generation requestinterface 108, through which an elevator artistic design drawinggeneration request can be received from the building designer userterminal 2, and elevator artistic design drawing data and elevatorperspective drawing data can be taken out from the side of the WWWclient terminals.

Further, an external storage 126 of this WWW server 11 stores a buildingfeatures database. The building features database registers, for eachpurpose (office building, apartment house, or the like) of a building,an elevator machine type/number planning map prepared for a building ofthat purpose. In each elevator machine type/number planning map,recommended elevator machine type/number planning information(recommended passenger capacity of an elevator, recommended transportspeed of an elevator, and recommended number of elevators to beinstalled) can be obtained using a combination of the number of floorsand resident population of the building as a retrieval key. For example,FIG. 21 shows conceptually data structure of an elevator machinetype/number planning map for an office building. When this elevatormachine type/number planning map is used in the case where the number offloors is “10” and resident population is “300”, then, as recommendedelevator machine type/number planning information, the elevatortransport speed “105 m/min”, the elevator passenger capacity “9”, andthe number of elevators to be installed “2” are obtained.

Next, a series of remote processing performed in the network systemshown in FIG. 16 will be described step by step. Here, similarly to theabove-described cases, an elevator is taken as an example of anorder-made product.

As shown in FIG. 17, remote processing of the present embodiment isdivided into the following five stages (a first stage S201, a secondstage S202, a third stage S203, a fourth stage S204, and a fifth stageS205) seen from the side of a building designer who receives theservice.

(1) First Stage (S201)

A flowchart of FIG. 19 shows a flow of detailed processing in this firststage (S201).

A building should be installed with elevators appropriate for trafficdemand in the building. For example, the optimum transportation capacityof elevators to be installed differs depending on a purpose (officebuilding, apartment house, or the like) of the building. Even ifbuildings have the same purpose, optimum transportation speeds ofelevators to be installed in them differ depending on their heights.Thus, a building designer who designs a building provided with elevatorsshould previously know specifications and number of elevatorsappropriate for the purpose and resident population of the building.

In such a case, the building designer first starts up a browser on hisbuilding designer user terminal 2, and establishes connection betweenhis building designer user terminal 2 and the WWW server 11, to open aWWW page that provides elevator design service on his building designeruser terminal 2. As shown in FIG. 18, a case ID input box 155, which isused for inputting a case ID of a study request, and a list of servicesprovided 150–154 are arranged on the top page of this WWW page thatprovides the elevator design service.

On this page, when the building designer selects “machine type/numberplanning service” 150 from the list of the services provided, whileinputting nothing into the case ID input box 155, then, a buildinginformation input page 160 as shown in FIG. 20( a) is opened on thedisplay screen of the building designer user terminal 2.

On this building information input page 160, is arranged a tool kit forinputting building information (purpose of a building to which elevatorsare to be installed, the number of floors of the building, and residentpopulation of the building) relating to the building to which elevatorsare to be installed. In detail, on this page, are arranged: a buildingpurpose input box 161 for inputting a purpose of the building to beinstalled with elevators; a building floor number input box 162 forinputting the number of floors of the building to be installed withelevators; a resident population input box 163 for inputting residentpopulation of the building to be installed with elevators; and an OKbutton 164 for confirmation of setting the data in all the input boxes.Thus, after inputting appropriate data into these input boxes 161, 162and 163, the building designer should click the OK button 164. Here, theinput boxes 161, 162 and 163 are attached with respective buttons, and,a click of each button opens a pull-down menu showing a list of inputdata candidates to be inputted into an input box concerned. Thus, thebuilding designer can simply select a suitable input data candidate asinput data into each input box, from the list in the pull-down menu. Forexample, when the button attached to the building purpose input box 161is clicked, then, a pull-down menu 161A showing a list of standardpurposes (office building, government office building, apartment house,etc.) of a building installed with elevators is opened. Thus, thebuilding designer can determine input data into the building purposeinput box 161 by selecting one suitable building purpose from the listof these building purposes.

When the building designer finishes inputting data into the input boxes161, 162 and 163, and thereafter, clicks the OK button 164, then, anelevator machine type/number planning retrieval request, which includessetting data (building information) set in the input boxes 161, 162 and163, is sent to the WWW server 11 (S2011).

Receiving this elevator machine type/number planning retrieval request,the WWW server 11 takes out the building information (purpose of thebuilding, the number of floors, and resident population) out of therequest received, and performs database retrieval using the buildinginformation as retrieval keys. In detail, the WWW server 11 searches thebuilding features database, and, out of the elevator machine type/numberplanning map (see FIG. 21) associated with one retrieval key (purpose ofthe building), recommended elevator machine type/number planninginformation associated with the remaining two retrieval keys (the numberof floors and resident population) is obtained (S2012).

Then, the WWW server 11 returns the retrieval result (recommendedpassenger capacity of an elevator, recommended transport speed of anelevator, and the recommended number of elevators to be installed) tothe building designer user terminal 2. By this, an elevator machinetype/number plan display page 165 as shown in FIG. 20( b) is opened onthe display screen of the building designer user terminal 2. And, thebuilding purpose designated by the building designer and the retrievalresults (recommended passenger capacity of an elevator, recommendedtransport speed of an elevator, and the recommended number of elevatorsto be installed) by the WWW server 11 are displayed as an elevatormachine type/number plan 166. In addition, a message is displayed forasking if the elevator machine type/number plan displayed should besaved, while displaying two underlined letters “Y” and “N” for receivinga reply to the message (S2013). Here, when the building designer clicksthe underlined letter “N” on one side, then, the top page shown in FIG.18 is opened again on the display screen of the building designer userterminal 2 (S20215). When, however, the other underlined letter “Y” isclicked, a data save request, which includes the elevator machinetype/number plan on display, is sent to the database server through theWWW server 11 (S2014).

Receiving this data save request, the database server 12 registers anewthe elevator machine type/number plan (studied information on theentrusted case) included in the request into the customer'sspecification management database, associating it with the youngest caseID among unregistered case IDs and the present date (S2015). When thenew data registration into the customer's specification managementdatabase is finished, the new case ID registered at this time isreturned to the building designer user terminal 2 through the WWW server11 (S2016). By this, a case ID confirmation page 168 as shown in FIG.20( c) is opened on the display screen of the building designer userterminal 2. This case ID confirmation page displays the new case IDassigned to the entrusted case, and an OK button 169 is arranged on thispage. When the building designer confirms the new case ID and thereafterclicks the OK button 169, then, the top page (see FIG. 18) is displayedagain on the building designer user terminal 2. And, at the same time,the service name “machine type/number planning service” of the serviceprovided this time and the new case ID are saved, being associated witheach other.

In building design of a building installed with elevators, a buildingdesigner does not always study fitting of the elevators immediatelyafter determination of an elevator machine type/number plan. In manytimes, before studying the fitting, the design of the building isusually further proceeded. According to this extended system, when theelevator machine type/number plan 166 displayed on the WWW page has noparticular problem, the plan 166 can be saved into the database on thenetwork for the time being. Thus, the building designer can disconnecthis building designer user terminal 2 from the WWW server 11, and returnto his building design work.

(2) Second Stage (S202

A flowchart of FIG. 22 shows a flow of detailed processing in thissecond stage (S202).

In the subsequent process of the building design, reaching at a stagewhere the fitting of the elevator is to be studied, the buildingdesigner establishes the connection between his building designer userterminal 2 and the WWW server 11 again, to open the WWW page thatprovides the elevator design service on his building designer userterminal 2 (see FIG. 18).

When the building designer, who proceeds with the study based on a plandifferent from the elevator machine type/number plan presented lasttime, selects the service provided, “elevator CAD symbol providingservice” 151, while inputting nothing into the case ID input box 155,then, the elevator design page shown in FIG. 5 is opened on the displayscreen of the building designer user terminal 2.

As described above, the building designer should at least input data(purpose of an elevator, specification number of the elevator, or dooropening direction) into each of the input boxes 50, 51 and 52, for eachof the number of elevators to be installed on this page (S2022).Selection of options, such as existence of a trunk, a counter weightposition, and the like, may be made appropriately if necessary.

On the other hand, when the building designer, who proceeds with thestudy based on the elevator machine type/number plan presented lasttime, inputs the case ID issued last time into the case ID input box 155and thereafter pushes a return key, then, the text on the WWW page ischanged in its style. In detail, in the list of the names of theservices provided on the WWW page shown in FIG. 18, the service namedisplayed next to the service name “machine type/number planningservice” that corresponds to the inputted case ID and is presentlysaved, namely, the service name “elevator CAD symbol providing service”151 of the service that the building designer is to receive next ishighlighted. By this, the building designer can grasp at a glance theservice to receive first in this access, even if a long time has elapsedfrom the last access.

Thereafter, when the building designer selects the service provided“elevator CAD symbol providing service” 151, then, a studied informationretrieval request, which includes the case ID inputted into the case IDinput box 155, is sent to the database server 12 through the WWW server11. The database server 12 makes a database search, using, as aretrieval key, the case ID included in this retrieval request, to takeout studied information (purpose of the building, recommended number ofelevators to be installed, recommended passenger capacities of theelevators, and recommended transport speeds of the elevators) from thecustomer's specification management database, and returns thisinformation (S2023).

An elevator basic specification input page shown in FIG. 23 is displayedon the building designer user terminal 2 that has received this returndata (the purpose of the building, the recommended number of theelevators to be installed, the recommended passenger capacities of theelevators, and the recommended transport speeds of the elevators). Inthis case, however, default data (the purpose of the building, therecommended number of elevators to be installed, and recommendedtransport speeds of the elevators, included in the return data) havebeen already set in a building purpose input box 170, and cage capacityinput boxes 173 and transport speed input boxes 175 corresponding to therecommended number of elevators included in the return data. Thus, it issufficient that the building designer only sets appropriate data intoelevator purpose input boxes 171 and door opening direction input boxes172 corresponding to the recommended number of elevators, and, ifnecessary, changes the default data of the cage capacity input boxes 173and the transport speed input boxes 175 (S2024). Further, with respectto selection of options, such as existence of a trunk, a counter weightposition, and the like, appropriate data may be set into each of theinput boxes 174 and 176 if necessary.

Now, when the building designer sets the required data and thereafterclicks the symbol display button 53 or 177 on the page of FIG. 5 or 23,then, the database server 12 performs database retrieval for a CADsymbol, similarly to the above-described case (S2025).

At that time, when the database server 12 succeeds in the databaseretrieval for a CAD symbol (S2026), then, the retrieval result isreturned to the building designer user terminal 2, similarly to theabove-described case (S2029). By this, similarly to the above-describedcase, a CAD symbol 180 conforming to the requirements specification ofthe building designer is displayed on the building designer userterminal 2 as shown in FIG. 24 (S20210). In this case, however, amessage 181 is displayed for asking if the CAD symbol on display and itsrelated information should be saved, while displaying two underlinedletters “Y” and “N” for receiving a reply to the message.

Here, when the building designer clicks the underlined letter “N” on oneside (S20211), then, the top page (see FIG. 18) is opened again on thedisplay screen of the building designer user terminal 2. When, however,the other underlined letter “Y” is clicked (S20211), then, a data saverequest, which includes the CAD symbol on display and its relatedinformation (building information, the number of elevators to beinstalled, transport speed, passenger capacity, door opening direction,etc.), is sent to the database server 12 through the WWW server 11.Here, when a case ID has been already assigned to the case in whichsupply of the CAD symbol is requested this time, then, the case ID isalso sent together with the data save request to the database server 12at this time.

Receiving this data save request, the database server 12 takes out thecase ID from the data save request (S20212).

Here, when a case ID can not be taken out from the data save request,then, the CAD symbol etc. (studied information relating to the entrustedcase) included in the data save request are registered anew into thecustomer's specification management database, associating them with theyoungest case ID among unregistered case ID and the present date.Thereafter, the new case ID registered this time is returned to thebuilding designer user terminal 2 through the WWW server 11 (S20213).

By this, a case ID confirmation page 168 as shown in FIG. 20( c) isopened on the display screen of the building designer user terminal 2.This case ID confirmation page displays the new case ID assigned to thecase entrusted by the building designer, and an OK button 169 isarranged on the page. When the building designer confirms the new caseID and thereafter clicks the OK button 169, then, the top page shown inFIG. 18 is displayed again on the building designer user terminal 2.And, at the same time, the service name “elevator CAD symbol providingservice” of the service provided this time and the new case ID aresaved, being associated with each other.

On the other hand, when the case ID can be taken out from the data saverequest, then, the database registration date and studied informationregistered in the customer's specification management database beingassociated with that case ID are updated with the present date and CADsymbol etc. included in the data save request. Thereafter, a messagethat database registration of the CAD symbol has been successful isreturned to the building designer user terminal 2 through the WWW server11 (S20214). On the side of the building designer user terminal 2 thatreceives this message, the top page of FIG. 18 is displayed again on thebuilding designer user terminal 2. And, at the same time, the servicename “elevator CAD symbol providing service” of the service providedthis time and the new case ID are saved, being associated with eachother.

When the database server 12 fails in the database retrieval of a CADsymbol (S2026), then, similarly to the above-described case, the WWWserver 11 disconnects it from the building designer user terminal 2, andthereafter, generates a CAD symbol conformed to the requirementsspecification of the building designer (S2027). Then, similarly to theabove-described case, the WWW server 11 requests the database server 12to register the newly-generated CAD symbol, and request the mail serveron the network to distribute an e-mail addressed to the buildingdesigner to inform him of the completion of the CAD symbol and itsstorage location (S2028).

When the building designer knows the completion and storage location ofthe CAD symbol by means of an arrival of the e-mail from the WWW server11 and downloads the CAD symbol from the storage location, then,similarly to the above-described case, the CAD symbol 180 conformed tothe requirements specification of the building designer is displayed onthe building designer user terminal 2, as shown in FIG. 24 (S20210). Inthis case, however, a message 181 is displayed for asking if the CADsymbol on display should be saved, while displaying two underlinedletters “Y” and “N” for receiving a reply to the message. Here, nomatter which of the two underlined letters “Y” and “N” the designerclicks (S20211), processing is performed similarly to the case wheredatabase retrieval of a CAD symbol has succeeded.

In some cases, the same building designer undertakes designing of aplurality of buildings (for example, buildings of chain stores) provinga sensation of unity in their insides, at different times respectively.It is supposed that those plurality of buildings are installed withelevators having common basic specifications (transport speed, andpassenger capacity) etc. Accordingly, in this extended system, a CADsymbol and its related information provided on the WWW page areregistered into the customer's specification management database on thenetwork when the designer wishes, so that the CAD symbol and basicspecification data can be downloaded any number of times after that, ifthe designer needs them.

(3) Third Stage (S203)

A flowchart of FIG. 25 shows a flow of detailed processing in the firsthalf of this third stage (S203).

In the subsequent process of the building design, reaching at a stagewhere plotting of an installation drawing is to be requested to theequipment designer (elevator designer), the building designerestablishes the connection between his building designer user terminal 2and the WWW server 11 again, to open the WWW page (as shown in FIG. 18)that provides the elevator design service.

When, in the case of the building designer who has generated buildingdrawing data by using a CAD symbol that was not saved at the time oflast access, the building designer selects “elevator installationdrawing generation service” 152 on the top page of FIG. 18 from the listof services provided while inputting nothing into the case ID input box155, then, an installation drawing generation page shown in FIG. 26( a)is opened. On this page, are arranged tools for inputting data requiredfor an elevator installation drawing generation request. In detail, onthis page, are arranged: a case ID input box 190 for inputting a case IDwith which generation of installation drawing data is requested; anelevator installation number input box 191 for inputting the number ofelevators to be installed; a building purpose input box 192 forinputting a purpose of a building to be installed with the elevators; abuilding floor number input box 193 for inputting the number of floorsof the building to be installed with the elevators; input boxes 194 forinputting respectively basic specifications etc. for the elevators; abuilding drawing data input box 195 for inputting a file name ofbuilding drawing data; a drawing requisition date input box 196 forinputting a desired dead line (date) for receiving an installationdrawing; and a sending button 197 for instruction of sending the dataset in the input box. Here, the case ID input box 190 is displayed as aninactive box.

In this case, when the building designer inputs suitable data into theboxes 191–196 other than the case ID input box 190 and thereafter clicksthe sending button 164 (S2031), then, an installation drawing generationrequest, which includes the data set into the input boxes 191–196 otherthan the case ID input box 190, is sent to the equipment designer userterminal 1 through the WWW server 12 (S2032).

On the other hand, in the case of the building designer who hasgenerated building drawing data by using the CAD symbol saved at thetime of last access, when the building designer inputs, the case IDissued last time into the case ID input box 155 as a case ID of theinstallation drawing generation request, and pushes the return key,then, the text on the top page is changed in its style. In detail, inthe list of the names of the services provided, on the top page of FIG.18, the service name displayed next to the service name “elevator CADsymbol providing service” that corresponds to the installation drawinggeneration request case ID and is presently saved, namely, the servicename “elevator installation drawing generation service” 152 of theservice that the building designer is to receive next is highlighted. Bythis, the building designer can grasp at a glance the service to receivefirst in this access, even if a long time has elapsed from the lastaccess.

Thereafter, when the building designer selects the service provided“elevator installation drawing generation service” 152, then, a studiedinformation retrieval request, which includes the installation drawinggeneration request case ID, is sent to the database server 12 throughthe WWW server 11. The database server 12 makes a database search using,as a retrieval key, the case ID included in this retrieval request, totake out studied information from the customer's specificationmanagement database, and returns this information.

An installation drawing generation request page shown in FIG. 26( a) isdisplayed on the building designer user terminal 2 that has receivedthis return data (S2033). In this case, however, default data (the caseID, the number of elevators, the purpose of the building, the number offloors, the passenger capacities of the elevators, the transport speedsof the elevators, door opening directions, option data, etc.) have beenalready set in the input boxes 190–194 other than the building drawingdata input box 195 and the drawing requisition date input box 196. Thus,it is sufficient that the building designer only sets suitable data intothe building drawing data input box 195 and the drawing requisition dateinput box 196 (S2034). When the building designer inputs these data andthereafter clicks the sending button 164, then, a data save request,which includes the setting data in the input boxes 190–196, is sent tothe database server 12 through the WWW server 12.

Now, receiving the data save request from the building designer userterminal 2, the database server uploads the building drawing datacorresponding to the file name included in this data save request(S2035). Then, the case ID included in this data save request and thebuilding drawing data are registered into the building drawingmanagement database, being associated with each other, and the case IDregistered at this time is sent to the building designer user terminal2.

The building designer user terminal 2 sends the installation drawinggeneration request, which includes this returned case ID, to themanagement terminal 112 through the WW server 11. The managementterminal 112 first takes out identification information of equipmentdesigners who provide the installation drawing generation service, fromthe service management database 116. Further, case IDs and their deadlines corresponding to each piece of identification information obtainedthis time are taken out from the load management database 115.

Based on the results, the equipment designer having the least number ofcases under his charge is determined as a person to whom plotting of thepresent installation drawing is requested. The dead line of theinstallation drawing to be requested this time is determined by adding apredetermined working period to the dead line of the last case under thecharge of this equipment designer. Then, the management terminal 112sends the result determined this time to the WWW server 11, and updatesthe load management database 115 with the result determined this time.

Receiving the sent data, the WWW server 11 requests the mail server onthe network to distribute an e-mail addressed to the person in charge toinform him of the file name and storage location of the building data,the case ID, and the dead line, and, at the same time, sends the case IDand the dead line to the building designer user terminal 2 (S2036).

By this, a dead line answer page shown in FIG. 26( b) is opened on thedisplay screen of the building designer user terminal 2. On this deadline answer page, are displayed the case ID 198 and the dead line 199included in the return data. Further, an OK button 200 is arranged onthis dead line answer page. When the building designer confirms thecontents on display and thereafter clicks the OK button 169, then, thetop page of FIG. 18 is opened again on the display screen of thebuilding designer user terminal 2, and the service name “elevatorinstallation drawing generation service” of the service provided thistime and the case ID of the case of the installation drawing generationrequest are saved being associated with each other.

Flowcharts of FIGS. 27 and 28 show a flow of detailed processing in thelatter half of this third stage.

In the equipment designer user terminal 1 of the equipment designerdetermined as the person in charge of the installation drawing requestedthis time, processing shown in FIG. 27 is performed when the timedetermined in his schedule arrives. First, the building drawing data istaken out from the building drawing management database (S20312), andfurther, the studied information is taken out from the customer'sspecification management database (S20313). Then, based on these data,the above-described elevator shaft relevance building data automaticread processing and equipment selection/location calculation processing(S20314) are performed. Further, the installation drawing generationprocessing (S20315) is performed, and the installation data generated asa result of the processing is registered together with the installationdrawing generation request case ID into the installation drawingmanagement database (S20316). Then, detailed data that have beendetermined in the above-mentioned processes are registered as studiedinformation additionally into the customer's specification managementdatabase, and the mail server on the network is requested to distributean e-mail addressed to the client to inform him of the storage locationof the installation drawing data and the case ID of the installationdrawing generation request (S20317).

When the building designer knows the completion of the installationdrawing data by means of an arrival of the e-mail, then, in order todownload the installation drawing data, he starts up again the browseron his building designer user terminal 2 to establish connection betweenhis building designer user terminal 2 and the WWW server 12, and to openan installation drawing download page as shown in FIG. 29( a) on thedisplay screen of his building designer user terminal 2. On thisinstallation drawing download page, are arranged a case input box 210for inputting the case ID of the installation drawing generation requestfor the installation drawing that he wishes to download, and a sendingbutton 211 for instruction of sending the case ID of the installationdrawing generation request. When the building designer inputs theinstallation drawing generation request case ID that he knows from thee-mail into the case input box 210, and further, clicks the sendingbutton 211 (S2038), then, a page as shown in FIG. 29( b) is opened. Onthis page, is arranged an underlined character string 212 forinstructing download of the installation drawing data. When the buildingdesigner clicks this character string 212, then, an installation drawingretrieval request including the installation drawing generation requestcase ID is sent to the database server 12 through the WWW server 11.Correspondingly, the database server 12 takes out the installationdrawing data associated with the installation drawing generation requestcase ID from the installation drawing management database (S2039). Then,the installation drawing data are downloaded to the building designeruser terminal 2 (S20310).

Working hours on the building designer's side and those on the equipmentdesigner's side do not always coincide with each other. Further, evenwhen the equipment designer receives a new installation drawinggeneration request from the building designer, the equipment designercan not always deal with a new installation drawing generation requestimmediately, depending on a relation to formerly-received installationdrawing generation requests, or the like. Similarly, also the buildingdesigner's side does not proceed with his working according tocompletion of the installation drawing data on the side of the equipmentdesigner. Namely, the building designer's side and the equipmentdesigner's side make their respective schedules, and it is not possiblefor each side to always adjust his schedule to the partner. Thus,according to this extended system, the building designer user terminaland the equipment designer user terminal exchange drawing data throughdatabases, and such arrangement absorbs a time lag that may occurbetween the progress of the design work on the side of the buildingdesigner and the progress of the installation drawing work on the sideof the equipment designer.

Further, a present state of load of each equipment designer is managed,and a new installation drawing generation request is entrusted to theequipment designer who has the lightest load at present. Sucharrangement gives advantages to the building designer's side byshortening his waiting time between a request and completion of aninstallation drawing, and to the equipment designer's side by improvingoverall working efficiency caused by leveling of his loads.

(4) Fourth Stage (S204)

A flowchart of FIG. 30 shows a flow of detailed processing in thisfourth stage (S204).

When the elevator installation drawing data is completed (by anequipment designer or by the building designer himself), then, thebuilding designer must study specification of interior decoration.Reaching this stage, the building designer establishes again connectionbetween his building designer user terminal 2 and the WWW server 11, toopen the WWW page that provides the elevator design service (see FIG.18), on the display screen of his building designer user terminal 2.

When the building designer, who has completed the elevator installationdrawing data by himself, selects the desired service provided,“cage/doorway artistic design specification study service” 153 from thelist of the services provided, while inputting nothing into the case IDinput box 155, on the top page of FIG. 18, then, an artistic designspecification study page shown in FIG. 31 is opened. On this page, arearranged tools for inputting data required for studying an artisticdesign specification of an elevator. In detail, on this page, arearranged: a case ID input box 220 for inputting a case ID with whichstudy of artistic design is requested; a building purpose input box 221for inputting a purpose of a building to be installed with elevators; afloor number input box 222 for inputting the number of floors of thebuilding to be installed with the elevators; an input box 223 forinputting data (door opening direction and passenger capacity) requiredfor determining a case size etc. of each elevator; a group of icons 224for selecting a ceiling design pattern; a list box 225 for selecting aside plate material; a list box 226 for selecting a floor material; acheck button 228 and a list box 227 for selecting existence ornonexistence of a handrail and its material; a sending button 229; andthe like. In this case, however, the case ID input box 220 only isdisplayed as an inactive box.

In this case, the building designer must input suitable data into theinput box 221–223 other than the case ID input box 220, and thereafter,select suitable materials from other list boxes 224–227 (S2044). Here,the material of the handrail should be selected only if the handrail isto be fitted.

On the other hand, in the case of the building designer who obtains theelevator installation drawing data generated by the equipment designeruser terminal 1, when the building designer inputs the case ID into thecase ID input box 155 and pushes the return key, then, the text on theWWW page is changed in its style. In detail, in the list of the names ofthe service provided, on the WWW page of FIG. 18, the service namedisplayed next to the service name “elevator installation drawinggeneration service” that corresponds to the inputted case ID and ispresently saved, namely, the service name “cage/doorway artistic designspecification study service” 153 of the service that the buildingdesigner is to receive next is highlighted. By this, the buildingdesigner can easily grasp the service to receive first in this access.

Thereafter, when the building designer selects the desired serviceprovided “case/door way artistic design specification study service” 153from the list of the services provided, then, a studied informationretrieval request, which includes the case ID inputted into the case IDinput box 155, is sent to the database server 12 through the WWW server11. The database server 12 makes a database search using, as a retrievalkey, the case ID included in this retrieval request, to take out studiedinformation (purpose of the building, the recommended number ofelevators to be installed, recommended passenger capacities of theelevators, and recommended transport speeds of the elevators) from thecustomer specification management database, and returns this information(S2042).

An artistic design specification study page shown in FIG. 31 isdisplayed on the building designer user terminal 2 that has receivedthis return data (the purpose of the building, the recommended number ofthe elevators to be installed, the recommended passenger capacities ofthe elevators, and the recommended transport speeds of the elevators).In this case, however, default data (the purpose of the building, thenumber of the floors, the recommended passenger capacities of theelevators, the recommended transport speeds of the elevators, the dooropening directions, and the option data) have been already set into theinput boxes 220, 221, 222 and 223 on the page. Thus, it is sufficientthat the building designer only selects suitable materials from the listboxes 224–227 (S2044). Here, the material of the handrail should beselected only if the handrail is to be fitted.

Now, when the building designer sets the required data and thereafterclicks the sending button 229, on the page of FIG. 32, then, thebuilding designer user terminal 2 judges if a special ceiling designpattern or a special material is included in the data set on the page(S2045).

As a result, when at least a special ceiling design pattern or a specialmaterial is included, then, subsequent processing goes to thebelow-described fifth stage (S205).

On the other hand, when neither a special ceiling design pattern nor aspecial material is included, then, a database retrieval request, whichincludes the set data (the passenger capacity, the door openingdirection, the material data, the ceiling pattern, etc.) for eachelevator, is sent to the database server 12 through the WWW server 11.Receiving this database retrieval request, the database server 12searches the artistic design drawing management database for elevatorartistic design drawing data and elevator perspective drawing dataassociated with the data included in the database retrieval request(S2046). And, the retrieval result is returned to the client 2 of thedatabase retrieval request through the WWW server 11. By this, elevatorperspective drawing data 230 included in the return data are displayedgraphically as shown in FIG. 32( a), on the page opened on the displayscreen of the building designer user terminal 2. In addition, a message231 is displayed for asking the building designer if the data on displayand its related information should be saved, while displaying twounderlined letters “Y” and “N” for receiving a reply to the message(S2047).

Here, when the building designer clicks the underlined letter “N” on oneside (S2048), the top page (see FIG. 18) is opened again on the displayscreen of the building designer user terminal 2. When, however, theother underlined letter “Y” is clicked (S2048), then, a data saverequest, which includes the data on display and its related information(elevator perspective drawing data, elevator artistic design drawingdata, ceiling design pattern, material data, building information, thenumber of elevators to be installed, transport speeds, passengercapacities, door opening directions, etc.) is sent to the databaseserver 12 through the WWW server 11. Here, when a case ID has beenalready assigned to the case in which study of the artistic design isrequested this time, then, the case ID is also sent together with thedata save request to the database server 12 at this time.

Receiving this data save request, the database server 12 takes out thecase ID from the data save request (S2049).

Here, when a case ID can not be taken out from the data save request,then, the elevator artistic design drawing data etc. (studiedinformation relating to the entrusted case) included in the data saverequest are registered anew into the customer's specification managementdatabase, associating them with the youngest case ID among unregisteredcase ID and the present date. Thereafter, the new case ID registeredthis time is returned to the building designer user terminal 2 throughthe WWW server 11 (S40411). By this, a case ID confirmation page 232 asshown in FIG. 32( b) is opened on the display screen of the buildingdesigner user terminal 2. This case ID confirmation page displays thenew case ID assigned to the case entrusted by the building designer, andan OK button 233 is arranged on the page. When the building designerconfirms the new case ID and thereafter clicks the OK button 233, then,the top page of FIG. 18 is displayed again on the display screen of thebuilding designer user terminal 2. And, at the same time, the servicename “cage/doorway artistic design study service” of the serviceprovided this time and the new case ID are saved, being associated witheach other.

On the other hand, when the case ID can be taken out from the data saverequest (S4049), then, the database server 12 updates the databaseregistration date registered in the customer's specification managementdatabase being associated with that case ID, into the present date. And,the elevator artistic design drawing data etc. included in the data saverequest is registered additionally to the studied information registeredin association with that case ID in the customer's specificationmanagement database (S20410). Thereafter, the database server 12 returnsa message that database registration of the elevator artistic designdrawing data etc. has been successful, to the client 2 who has entrustedthe study of the artistic design, through the WWW server 11 (S20214). Onthe side of the building designer user terminal 2 that receives thismessage, the top page of FIG. 18 is opened again on the display screenof the building designer user terminal 2. And, at the same time, theservice name “cage/doorway artistic design study service” of the serviceprovided this time and the case ID are saved, being associated with eachother.

(5) Fifth Stage (S205)

A flowchart of FIG. 33 shows a flow of detailed processing in the firsthalf of this fifth stage (S205).

When, in S2045 of the fourth stage, either a special design pattern or aspecial material is included in the data set in the artistic designspecification study page, then, an artistic design drawing generationrequest page shown in FIG. 34( a) is opened on the display screen of thebuilding designer user terminal 2. This artistic design drawinggeneration request page displays confirmatory information 241 forconfirmation of the data that have been set to that time, and a sendingbutton 245 for instruction of sending the data on display is arranged onthis page. Here, in the neighborhood of the confirmatory information 241a on the special ceiling design pattern or special material, is arrangeda file name input box 242 for inputting a name of a file (hereinafter,referred to as a design information file) for storing data of thespecial ceiling design patter or special material desired by thebuilding designer. The building designer should input a suitableelectronic file name into the file name input box 242. The designinformation file, whose name is inputted here, stores a image etc.generated by the building designer using a suitable graphics tool. Forexample, in the case of a design information file for a special ceilingdesign pattern, it stores a ceiling design image as shown in FIG. 35.

Further, on this artistic design drawing generation request page, isarranged a drawing requisition date input box 243 for inputting adesired dead line (date) for the artistic design drawing. Thus, thebuilding designer should input suitable data also into the drawingrequisition date input box 243, before clicking the sending button 245.

When the building designer inputs suitable data into the input blocks242 and 243 on this artistic design drawing generation request page, andthereafter clicks the sending button 245, then, a data save request,which includes the data on display, is sent to the database serverthrough the WWW server 12 (S2053).

Receiving this data save request, the database server uploads a designinformation file corresponding to the file name included in the datasave request (S2054). Then, the database server registers the other dataincluded in the data save request and the design information file etc.in association with each other into a design information managementdatabase, and its data storage location and the case ID are sent to thebuilding designer user terminal 2.

The building designer user terminal 2 sends an artistic design drawinggeneration request, which includes the return data, to the managementterminal 112 through the WWW server 11. The management terminal 112first takes out identification information of artistic designers whoprovide elevator artistic design drawing generation service, from theservice management database 116. Further, case IDs and their dead linescorresponding to each piece of identification information obtained thistime are taken out from the load database 115. Based on the results, theartistic designer having the least number of cases under his charge isdetermined as a person to whom plotting of the present artistic designdrawing is requested. The dead line of the elevator artistic designdrawing data to be requested this time is determined by adding apredetermined working period to the dead line of the last case under thecharge of this artistic designer. Then, the management terminal 112updates the load management database 115 with the result determined thistime, and sends the result determined this time and the storage locationof the design information file etc. to the WWW server 11.

Receiving the sent data, the WWW server 11 requests the mail server onthe network to distribute an e-mail addressed to the person in charge ofthe artistic design to inform him of the file name and storage locationof the design information file, the case ID, and the dead line, and atthe same time, sends the case ID and the dead line to the buildingdesigner user terminal 2 (S2055).

By this, a dead line answer page shown in FIG. 34( b) is opened on thedisplay screen of the building designer user terminal 2. On this deadline answer page, are displayed the case ID and dead line 246 includedin the return data. Further, an OK button 247 is arranged on this deadline answer page. When the building designer confirms the contents ondisplay and thereafter clicks the OK button 247, then, the top page ofFIG. 18 is opened again on the display screen of the building designeruser terminal 2.

Flowcharts of FIGS. 36 and 37 show a flow of detailed processing in thelatter half of this fifth stage.

In the artistic designer user terminal 100 of the artistic designerdetermined as the person in charge of the artistic design drawingrequested this time, processing shown in FIG. 36 is performed when thetime determined in his schedule arrives. First, the design informationfile etc. are taken out from the design information management database(S2057). Product specification information of an interior materialindicated by each piece of the material data taken out this time isretrieved from the material database (S2058). Then, elevator interiordecoration structure is determined based on the design information fileetc. and the product specification information. Further, based on thisresult determined, elevator artistic design drawing data and elevatorperspective drawing data are generated (S2060). Thus-obtained elevatorartistic design drawing data and elevator perspective drawing data areregistered into the artistic design drawing management database (S2061).Then, detailed data that have been determined in the above-mentionedprocesses are registered as studied information additionally into thecustomer's specification management database. And, the mail server onthe network is requested to distribute an e-mail addressed to the clientto inform him of the case ID of the artistic design drawing generationrequest and the storage location of the elevator artistic design drawingdata etc.

When the building designer knows the completion of the elevator artisticdesign drawing data etc. by means of an arrival of the e-mail, then thebuilding designer starts up again the browser on his building designeruser terminal 2 to download the elevator artistic design drawing dataetc., to establish connection between his building designer userterminal 2 and the WWW server 12, and to open an artistic design drawingdownload page as shown in FIG. 29( a) on the display screen of hisbuilding designer user terminal 2. On this artistic design drawingdownload page, are arranged a case input box 210 for inputting the caseID of the request for generation of the artistic design drawing that hewishes to download, and a sending button 211 for instruction of sendingthe case ID of the request for generation of the drawing. When thebuilding designer inputs the artistic design drawing generation requestcase ID that he knows from the e-mail, into the case input box 210 andthereafter clicks the sending button 211 (S2063), then, a page as shownin FIG. 29( b) is opened. On this page, is arranged an underlinedcharacter string 212 for instructing download of the elevator artisticdesign drawing data. When the building designer clicks this characterstring 212, then, an artistic design drawing retrieval request, whichincludes the artistic design drawing generation request case ID, is sentto the database server 12 through the WWW server 11. Correspondingly,the database server 12 takes out the elevator artistic design drawingdata etc. associated with the artistic design drawing generation requestcase ID from the artistic design drawing management database (S2064).Then, the elevator artistic design drawing data is downloaded to thebuilding designer user terminal 2 (S2065).

Thereafter, when it is desired to change the elevator artistic designdrawing data on the side of the building designer, then, it issufficient that the building designer opens the artistic designspecification study page on his user terminal 2, inputs the case ID onthis page, and sets data again. By this, the user terminal 100 of theartistic designer in charge calculates difference between the data setlast time and the data set this time, and corrects the artistic designdrawing data based on the difference. Accordingly, on the side of theartistic designer, the corrected artistic design drawing data can bemade more promptly than the case where the artistic design drawing datais generated from the beginning, and on the side of the buildingdesigner, the corrected artistic design drawing data can be obtainedpromptly.

The relation between the building designer and the artistic designer isalmost similar to the above-described relation between the buildingdesigner and the equipment designer. Thus, according to this extendedsystem, the building designer user terminal and the artistic designeruser terminal exchange data through databases, and such arrangementabsorbs a time lag that may occur between the progress of the designwork on the side of the building designer and the progress of theartistic design drawing work on the side of the artistic designer.

Further, a present state of load of each artistic designer is managed,and a new artistic design drawing generation request is entrusted to theartistic designer who has the lightest load at present. Such arrangementgives advantages to the building designer's side by shortening hiswaiting time between a request and completion of an artistic designdrawing, and to the artistic designer's side by improving overallworking efficiency caused by leveling of his loads.

In the above description, an elevator is taken as an example of anorder-made product. Of course, however, an incidental facility otherthan an elevator may be taken as an order-made product.

Further, by allowing download of a program that defines the processingperformed on the user terminal on the equipment designer's side,installation drawing data can be generated on the user terminal on theside of the building designer also. Of course, it is possible to saysimilarly, when a program that defines the processing performed on theuser terminal on the equipment designer's side is installed onto theuser terminal on the building designer's side, from a storage mediumthat stores the program.

According to the present invention, check of interference between anorder-made product and peripheral equipment can be performed accuratelyand promptly by calculation processing. Thus, it is possible to generatepromptly an installation structure plan that can appropriately installan order-made product into a building under design. Owing to this, thebuilding designer is given (1) an advantage that installation structurefor equipment is grasped early and thereby a design period is shortened,and the equipment designer (2) an advantage that processing ofgenerating an equipment installation drawing according to buildingstructure is abbreviated and simplified.

Further, in interference study, i.e., in studying if equipment can behoused in a building's main frame, the building designer can ascertainat a glance if the equipment satisfying requirements specificationinterferes with surrounding building elements. Thus, interference studycan be performed more promptly and simply, which also shortens a periodthat elapses until the building designer obtains the installationstructure plan.

Further, according to the present invention, a series of transactionprocedures between a person who gives an order of an elevator and aperson who receives the order can be performed through a network.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is useful in that an elevator specification can beeasily determined through a network etc. and in that consistency betweenthe elevator in question and design and specification of a building tobe installed with the elevator can be adjusted promptly.

1. A remote order acceptance design system, comprising: a means forsending a list of basic specifications of a plurality of products thatcan be sold, to a customer's terminal according to the customer'srequirement via a wide area network; a database that stores CAD symbols,each including at least product name information, structure informationindicating structural features of the product, basic specificationinformation, and occupied space information indicating a space thatshould be secured for installing the product, for each of said productsthat can be sold; a first input receiving means for receiving input of arequirements specification of an order-made product that includes one ormore equipments; a data taking means for retrieving the basicspecification information stored in said database, based on therequirements specification whose input is received by said first inputreceiving means, and for taking out a corresponding CAD symbol thatincludes said occupied space, from said database; a data output meansfor outputting the CAD symbol taken out by said data taking means to aninput source that has input the requirements specification of saidorder-made product; a second input receiving means for receiving inputof the customer's design data that include the CAD symbol of saidorder-made product positioned on the customer's design data by thecustomer via the wide area network; a means for extracting structuralfeatures within the occupied space information of the CAD symbol of saidorder made product from the customer's design data received by saidsecond input receiving means, and for judging existence of interferencein the occupied space of said order-made product, based on saidstructural features; and an installation drawing generation means fortaking out the structure information corresponding to said CAD symbolfrom said database, when it is judged that interference does not occurin the occupied space of said order-made product, and for generatinginstallation drawing data for said order-made product based on saidstructure information and said customer's design data, wherein said dataoutput means outputs the installation drawing data generated by saidinstallation drawing generation means to an input source that has inputsaid customer's design data.
 2. The remote order acceptance designsystem according to claim 1, further comprising: a CAD symbol automaticgeneration means for generating a CAD symbol of said order-made productbased on the requirements specification received by said input receivingmeans, when said CAD symbol can not taken out from said databases,wherein said data output means outputs the CAD symbol generated by saidCAD symbol automatic generation means, when said CAD symbol can not betaken out from said database.
 3. The remote order acceptance designsystem according to claim 1, wherein further comprising: a customer'sdesign data save means for saving the customer's design data received bysaid second input receiving means, associating said customer's designdata with the input source of the building data; and a correctionmanagement means for calculating difference between customer's designdata after a change and customer's design data before the change, whensaid second input receiving means receives the customer's design dataafter the change, and for judging existence of interference in theorder-made product's installation area defined by said customer's designdata after the change, based on said difference, wherein saidinstallation drawing generation means generates installation drawingdata of said order-made product based on said structure information andsaid customer's design data after the change, when it is judged thatinterference does not occur in said order-made product's occupied spacedefined in the customer's design data after the change.